Airbus A320neo-Family
The Airbus A320neo-Family is a development from the Airbus A320-Family, a group of narrow-body medium-range airliners. The aircraft was launched on 1 December 2010 and made its first flight on 25 September 2014. The A320neo-Family is 15-20% more fuel efficient than the A320ceo family. Development In 2006, Airbus started the A320 Enhanced programme (A320E) as a series of improvements targeting a 4-5% efficiency increase with larger winglets, aerodynamic refinements, cabin redesign and weight savings. Airbus launched the sharklet blended wingtip during the November 2009 Dubai Airshow. New Engine Option At the February 2010 Singapore Air Show, Airbus announced its decision to launch the A320neo would be at the July 2010 Farnborough Air Show. The engine choice was not taken by August, but included the CFM International LEAP-1A and the Pratt & Whitney PW1000G engines. The new engines had a fuel efficiency increase of 16% and were 20% less expensive to maintain. On 1 December 2010, Airbus launched the A320neo. The A320neo had 500nmi more range or 2t more payload, and was planned to deliver 4,000 over the next 15 years. The A320neo was listed for $6M more than the A320ceo. The A320neo was slated for market entry in spring 2016. The A321neo followed six months later and the A319 follows one year later. The 2010 order for 40 Bombardier CS300s (now known as Airbus A220-300s) and 40 options from Republic Airways Holdings pushed Airbus to re-engine the A320ceo. The first Airbus A320neo rolled out of the Toulouse factory on 1 July 2014 and its first flight was scheduled for September 2014. Flight Testing The first flight for the A320neo occurred on 25 September 2014. The Airbus A320neo was powered with two Pratt & Whitney PW1100G-JM geared turbofan engines, which were certified by the FAA on 19 December 2014. After 36 months, the A320neo and A321neo had collectively flown 4,000 hours for certification. Of the 4,000 hours, 2,250 were with PW1100G engines and the rest were with CFM LEAPs. The A320neo is half as loud as the A320ceo at takeoff. The LEAP-powered A321neo has a flyover noise of 83.3dB. Production Lufthansa took delivery of its first A320neo on 20 January 2016. Two hundred deliveries were targeted in 2017, but due to Pratt & Whitney ramp-up difficulties, around 30 aircraft were parked, waiting for engines. The last final assembly line in Hamburg opened in July 2017, with 60 A320s to be produced monthly starting 2019. By October 2017, Airbus delivered over 90 A320neos, and acknowledged that it would not attain the 200 target. The airline expected 60 narrow-body productions per month by summer 2019. In February 2018, in-flight failures of the PW1100G engines caused EASA and Airbus to ground some A320neo-Family aircraft until they were re-examined. Airbus stopped accepting PW1100G engines soon after the groundings, only to resume in May. Early Operations By January 2019, 585 A320neos were in commercial service split between over 60 operators. Of those, IndiGo (87), Frontier (33) and China Southern (26) had the highest. The 16% fuel efficiency increase and 21% fuel efficiency increase per seat figures were confirmed by Lufthansa. Avianca reported the CFM LEAP engines were 15-20% more fuel efficient. In July 2019, Airbus disclosed two separate issues which could result in excessive pitch up behaviour, affecting the A320neo and A321neo. Both issues were detected during analysis and laboratory testing, and had not been encountered in actual operation. Airbus expects to release a software update in 2020. Variants A319neo The A319neo can seat up to 160 passengers in a single-class configuration or 140 in a two-class configuration. The aircraft has a range of 3,750nmi. The Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) version can seat up to eight passengers and fly up to 6,750nmi. Qatar Airways was destined to be the launch customer of the A319neo, but upgraded to the A320neo in late 2013. The A319neo made its first flight on 31 March 2017, and was powered by two CFM LEAP engines. The A319neo achieved FAA/EASA Type Certification on 21 December 2018, after surpassing the 500 flight hour mark. 53 orders were placed at the time, including 17 with LEAP engines, 12 for Avianca, four for a Chinese operator and one ACJ319neo, with the rest having no engine selection. The Pratt & Whitney-powered variant made its first flight on 25 April 2019, and gained EASA certification by the end of November 2019. A320neo The first A320neo rolled out of the Toulouse factory on 1 July 2014. The aircraft first flew on 25 September 2014. The aircraft gained type certification by the FAA and EASA on 24 November 2015. The A320neo entered service with Lufthansa nearly 28 years after the first A320 service. By the end of February 2017, the A320neo had performed 28,105 scheduled flights, spanned across 71 aircraft. 134 cancellations were reported, revealing a 99.5% completion rate. Spirit Airlines and IndiGo experienced PW1000G engine issues and did not fly the aircraft above FL300 due to bleed air system freezing. By March 2017, 88 A320neos were delivered to 20 airlines, 49 with the PW1000G engines and 39 with the CFM LEAP engines. A321neo The A321neo's first customer was ILFC. The first A321neo prototype - D-AVXB - first flew on 9 February 2016. The aircraft suffered a tailstrike three days later and was flown to Toulouse for repairs, delaying the certification by multiple weeks. The aircraft received its type certification with Pratt & Whitney engines on 15 December 2016, and the CFM LEAP variant on 1 March 2017. The first A321neo, leased by GECAS, was delivered in Hamburg to Virgin America. The airliner entered service in May 2017. The A321neo weighs 1.8t more than the A321ceo and reached FL310 30nmi and 4 minutes earlier than the A321ceo. By January 2018, the A321neo had collected 1,920 orders, exceeding the number for the A321ceo. The A321neo accounted for 32% of A320neo-Family orders at the time. A321neo-LR In October 2014, Airbus started marketing a 164-seat 97t MTOW variant of the A321neo with three auxiliary fuel tanks called the A321neo-LR. The A321neo-LR had 100nmi more operational range than the Boeing 757-200, 27% lower trip costs and 24% lower seat costs. The A321neo-LR was scheduled for introduction near the end of 2018. Airbus launched the A321neo-LR on 13 January 2015 with Air Lease Corporation, expecting to sell 1,000 of the variant. The initial layout of 164 seats (20 business, 30 premium economy, 114 economy) was replaced by a two-class 206-seater (16 business and 190 economy). The A321neo-LR had 500nmi longer range than the A321neo. The aircraft was first delivered to Akria on 13 November 2018. The airliner experienced programme testing including different centre tank configurations and a transatlantic flight on 13 February 2018. Airbus announced certification from the FAA and EASA on 2 October 2018, including ETOPS 180. As Primera Air ceased operations, the first A321neo-LR was delivered to Akria. Norwegian, TAP Air Portugal, Air Transat, Aer Lingus, Air Astana, Air Arabia and Azores Airlines received their A321neo-LRs in 2019, and JetStar and Peach will in 2020. A321neo-XLR In January 2018, Airbus stated that it was experimenting with A321neo-LR variant with a larger MTOW and a low-density cabin. The A321neo-XLR targeted a segment likely covered by the Boeing NMA. The A321newo-XLR had an extended range of up to 4,500nmi and would be launched in 2019 to enter service in 2021 and 2022. The centre fuel tank was to be enlarged. By July 2018, 300nmi of the targeted range increase had been secured. In October 2018, the A321neo-XLR was proposed to Air Transat and AerCap. Airbus announced the A321neo-XLR would have a MTOW of over 100t and 700nmi more range than the A321neo-LR with the same wing and engines. In January 2019, Air Canada expressed interest in operating narrow-body aircraft for transatlantic flights, and was considering options including the A321neo-XLR and the 737 MAX. The A321neo-XLR launched at the Paris Air Show on 17 June 2019, with deliveries expected from 2023. The A321neo-XLR offers 4,700nmi of range and features a rear centre rank, a strengthened landing gear for a 101t MTOW configuration and an optimised wing trailing-edge flap to preserve takeoff performance. The RCT will hold 12,900 litres of fuel, the equivalent of four current aft centre tanks. A forward ACT could be fitted if necessary. Orders from airlines were announced at the air show. Middle East Airlines ordered four A321neo-XLRs, making it the launch customer. Air Lease Corporation ordered 27 of the type, alongside 23 A321neos and fifty A220-300s. International Airlines Group quoted a $142M list price as it committed to 28 aircraft, including eight for Iberia, six for Aer Lingus and fourteen options. Qantas Group ordered 36 of the type. American Airlines converted 30 A321neo orders to XLRs and added 20 more XLR orders. IndiGo Partners ordered 50 XLRs. Frontier ordered 18, bringing the total orders at the Paris Air Show to 243. On 3 December 2019, United Airlines announced an order for 50 A321neo-XLRs, with deliveries beginning in 2024. The A321neo-XLR will replace the Boeing 757-200 aircraft. Figures GeoFS Orders Currently, three airlines have orders for A319neos, eleven for A320neo orders and 13 for the A321neo-LR. Iranistan Airlines is the primary operator of the A319neo, with fifteen in service. Blue Ridge Airways, Luftaviar and Eurofly are the largest A320neo operators, with 16, 15 and 10 in service respectively. Aer Lingus, WindJet and United American Airways are the largest A321neo-LR operators, with 15, 10 and 10 in service respectively. A319neo A320neo A321neo A321neo-LR Development As of December 2019, GeoFS has one Airbus A320neo-Family aircraft - the A320neo. The aircraft is in an Air Berlin livery and was designed by GX Development. The A321neo-LR is under development by the GeoFS Aircraft Designer Group. The airliner will be in a jetBlue livery and has a planned release date of February 2020. Category:Airbus Category:Aircraft Category:Community Contributed Aircraft